President Barack Obama signed his $787bn (€624.5bn) economic stimulus package into law Tuesday, with an upbeat speech emphasizing the road to recovery.

The signing culminated a full White House press to pass the legislation, one of the largest economic rescue programs since Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. It was a remarkably speedy achievement, enacted into law less than a month after Mr. Obama took office.

He and the nearly 1,100-page bill traveled from Washington to Denver aboard Air Force One for the signing, some 1,700 miles from the scene of congressional infighting that dominated headlines. Mr. Obama and his aides have long said that support for the measure was much stronger across the country than in the nation's capital.

The president spoke to audience of 250 business people and community leaders involved in clean energy. The speech was largely upbeat, with less emphasis on the nation's economic troubles and more focus on the good things ahead. "We have begun the essential work of keeping the American dream alive in our time," he said.

Mr. Obama touted the measure's investments in health care, infrastructure, energy, education and, most importantly, job creation, as well as a variety of tax cuts. And rather than dwell on the minimal Republican support it attracted in Congress, the president emphasized support from interest groups including business and labor, as well as from mayors and governors of both parties.

"I have every confidence that if we are willing to continue doing the critical work that must be done – by each of us, by all of us – then we will leave this struggling economy behind us, and come out on the other side, more prosperous as a people," the president said.

Congressional Republicans, who were largely united in their opposition to the bill, said they were disappointed by the final outcome.

"The flawed bill the president will sign today is a missed opportunity, one for which our children and grandchildren will pay a hefty price," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) said in a statement.

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With this legislative achievement behind him, the task ahead for the young Obama administration is even tougher: making sure that this remarkable investment of tax dollars works to help turn around the economy and put Americans back to work.

Backers predict the package will save or create 3.5 million jobs. About $282bn is devoted to tax cuts, including breaks for individuals and businesses.

The spending includes, among other things, expanded unemployment benefits, food stamps, health care subsidies for those laid off and aid to states. And it includes spending for construction of highways and bridges, school renovations and incentives for health care facilities to replace paper records with electronic systems.

The president also promised that his administration would provide "unprecedented … transparency and accountability."

The White House put up a new Web site, www.recovery.gov, aimed at letting people to track where the money is spent. The White House also distributed information showing projected job growth by state and congressional district.

The White House chose the Denver Museum of Nature & Science to sign the bill to underscore the legislation's spending on renewable energy. Before his remarks, he went to see the building's rooftop solar panels, installed by Namaste Solar, whose chief executive told the crowd that his small company stands to grow thanks to new stimulus funding.

The president has made clear that the stimulus package is just the first step toward economic recovery. On Wednesday, he plans to announce a $50bn housing plan aimed at curbing foreclosures. "We must stem the spread of foreclosures and falling home values for all Americans, and do everything we can to help responsible homeowners stay in their homes, something I'll talk more about tomorrow," Mr. Obama said.

The administration also is pushing for legislation to overhaul the financial regulatory system that many believe failed to prevent many of the problems underlying the economic collapse. And the Treasury Department has put forward an outline of its plan to rescue the financial sector, using $350bn already approved by Congress.

In addition, the administration is not ruling out a second stimulus package, though there are no plans to request one now, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

"I think the president is going to do what's necessary to grow this economy. But there are no particular plans at this point for a second stimulus package at the moment. I wouldn't foreclose it, but I wouldn't say… we're readily making plans to do so."